A $6,000 annual salary increase reflected in the 2012/2013 budget for ministers of state is “an error”, Minister of State for Finance Michael Halkitis said yesterday, assuring that the correction will be made prior to the start of the new fiscal year on July 1.
“Salaries of the current ministers of state will remain at $60,000 and at the appropriate time in this debate the necessary ammendments will be made to the bill to reflect the $60,000 for ministers of state,” said Halkitis in the House of Assembly yesterday afternoon.
He assured, “No minister of state has been paid at the level of $66,000.”
A short time earlier, Halkitis said if any had been paid at this level the money would be refunded.
He responded to a question from The Nassau Guardian on the matter minutes after leaving a Cabinet meeting.
Senior ministers earn $66,000. The new budget reflects $66,000 as the salaries for both senior ministers and ministers of state, commonly referred to as junior ministers.
Former Minister of State for Finance Zhivargo Laing, in an interview with The Nassau Guardian, questioned how such a mistake could be made.
“To concede that that was a mistake would be yet another significant challenge for the government,” Laing said yesterday.
“The question is, what other mistakes are in there? Were there mistakes in the calculation of the $504 million deficit that they said we left behind? What errors are reflected in that?
“I’ll be commenting on that $504 million deficit and I think what would be wonderful is to get details from the government as to how they calculated that, because if this is a mistake what other mistakes exist in there?”
Laing said, “Yes, you can make mistakes. There’s no question about that, but I don’t think the international community or the national community wants to hear that we are making those kinds of mistakes.”
Laing said when the minister of finance is going through the budget the very first thing he reviews under personal emoluments is the salaries of ministers.
“You are checking the budget to make sure it’s accurate and you missed the very first item in any head? To me that is profound.”
Laing said the salary of ministers of state has been the same for the last 20 years.
The system is an automated, computerized system, he noted.
“No one would dare change that (the salary) unless they receive an instruction from the minister of finance to do so.”
Prior to Halkitis’ announcement that a mistake was made in the budget, Opposition Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis had said a salary increase would send the wrong message at this time when many people are still struggling.
If anything, he said, ministers should be getting salary decreases at this time, a move taken by the Ingraham administration during the recession. The salaries were eventually returned to previous levels.
There are five ministers of state in the new adminstration: Halkitis; Minister of State in the Ministry of Legal Affairs Damian Gomez; Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security Keith Bell; Minister of State in the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Hope Strachan and Minister of State for Investments Khaalis Rolle.
There were two ministers of state in the Ingraham administration: Laing and Loretta Butler-Turner, who is now deputy leader of the Free National Movement and MP for Long Island.
Halkitis told The Nassau Guardian yesterday no other mistake was made in the budget.
Source: The Nassau Guardian
